Paul Fris - Confessions of a Kiwi Motorcyclist

CONFESSIONS OF A KIWI MOTORCYCLIST

Published by Paul Fris at Smashwords

Copyright 2012 by Paul Fris

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Confessions of a Kiwi Motorcyclist isa work of non-fiction. Some names have been changed to protect theidentity of the persons involved and any online names used are notthe actual names of the persons mentioned.

All rights reserved. No part of this book maybe used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without writtenpermission from the author. Brief quotations may be embodied incritical articles or reviews.

At the time of writing this book Im fiftyfour years old and have ridden over three hundred thousandkilometres on motorbikes. I can honestly say that Im surprised Imstill here but happy that I am so that I can share with you the joyand passion of Motorcycling in New Zealand. I do know that as Igrow older, the negatives of my motorcycling past are going tohaunt me during the cooler seasons of the year. For some unknownreason, healed broken bones and winters do not mix very well.

There is much I could discuss and manytangents that could take me down other paths but you bought thisbook to learn more about Motorcycling in New Zealand and my ownconfessions and that is exactly what you are going to get. Ofcourse, the tips and odd training sections are applicableanywhere in the world. I have ridden often on my own and many timesin small and very large groups. I have organised rides that havetaken us over New Zealands most technical roads and had over ahundred motorcyclists turn up from all backgrounds and experiencelevels.

At the end of each chapter I will post aquote from some of these riders about how they perceived my riding.These quotes are anonymous and taken from a well-known forum. Onlythose who know the online names will recognise the characters. Manywho read this book will not know me and its easy for you to thinkI speak from my own perspective, so I believe its important thatthird party quotations are thrown in to make sure you know exactlywhat kind of animal you are dealing with here.

Im not a trumpet blower and I dont normallygo around expounding my knowledge and making out Im an expert butin this book Ill write about what I believe every reader willenjoy and relate to in some way. You will read about incidents thathave had a marked effect in my own life and you will share the joysand the heartache of an avid rider. Thrown in will be real lifepractical training because I want you to be a survivor and you willfind a couple of reviews and some information for new riders.

This book will not be English grammarcorrect but it will give you a taste for Kiwi humour, languageand more importantly the joy and sheer exhilaration of riding ongood old Kiwi back roads. Any person who has experienced theliberty and lets face it, has the balls to ride a decent sizedmotorcycle at speed will instantly be at home reading thisbook.

Those who may be contemplating taking thenext step and throwing a leg over a mechanical beast that has morepower to weight ratio than anything short of an interplanetarymissile booster, should enjoy the ride but be warned there aresome squeamish moments that are unavoidable when you participate inthis kind of activity.

There are many who would never even considerriding anything that has only two wheels and affords no protectionat all should things go belly up but after reading this, you mayhopefully have a better understanding of what drives a KiwiMotorcyclist.

I hope you enjoy this work as much as I didwriting it.

One who is passionate about riding PaulFris

~*~

Quote: Superdaveriding a GSXR600 on theCoromandel Loop commenting on my riding my Suzuki GSX1400.

Giving you rep for that wicked riding ofyours. You really lean that thing over! I saw you warming up yourtyres before that first good stretch of twisties and I was thinkingwhy the hell is a guy on a bike like that bothering he's just gonnacruise and take it at a leisurely pace but then I saw you go intothose corners and I was like ha-ha.

Mortality

As you get older, you really do have to askyourself the question, how long will you live?

Are you really aware of your own mortality?How many of us know exactly how many heartbeats are allotted to usin the short time we have on this world and if we did know, wouldwe do things differently, try something new or out there?

When we are young we do not think of thesethings as we consider ourselves to be indestructible and we expectto live a good long life. We took greater risks and when thingsdidnt turn out as expected; we healed quicker and dealt with theknockbacks in a more efficient manner.

What will it be that finally extinguishes theflame of your life? Will it be cancer, an accident, a disease orsome new virus that sweeps the world or simply old age?

We live in an extremely complex world with somany things that can go wrong and yet the millions of things thatcan affect our intricate bodies are dealt with by an awesome immunesystem in most cases. Check out a medical dictionary onlinesometime and be amazed at the fact you are actually still here. Wethink nothing of the fact that we live and breathe when so manythings could go wrong and end our lives in so short a time and yetmany of us ride or have ridden a motorbike and think nothing ofthat either.

How stupid is that? We throw our legs over amachine that in comparison to bikes that existed 30 years ago, areso much faster, more powerful and able to end your life with thesimple twist of the throttle in a blink of an eye and all that withno protection whatsoever. We rely totally on the oncoming motoristto stay on their side of the road, or we have little chance ofsurviving if they decide at the last second they prefer our side ofthe road to their own and for some strange reason, many do.

Between our legs is a tank full of highlyignitable substance, gleaned from the bowels of the earth fromextinct creatures that lived millions of years ago, that could alsomake us extinct in a second should a spark find its way anywherenear the vapour. If you survive that sort of mishap, you areunlikely to father any children and a certain appendage will takeon the look of a well-cooked barbecued sausage.

What is it that causes us to risk our livesastride these mechanical monsters full of fossil fuel? Thenaysayers will tell us that we are mad, that we are temporarycitizens of this world and we won't see old age. What if our bonesand their bones and the gloop from billions of people before us,are what powers the machines of the future? Will they say the samething and complete another cycle of life and death the same way wedo?

It has nothing to do with how you ride. Youcan be the best rider in the world and on the open road, anythingor anyone can take you out and there is not a darn thing you couldhave done about it. Simply put, when your numbers up... it's up.Sure, you can minimise the risk by improving your riding skills, byriding within your own safety margin envelope, by wearing the bestgear, but when things go belly up, there's not a lot you cando.

I often weigh up why I ride against what Ihave to lose and what those left behind will feel when Im gone.Like any risky activity, this is both healthy and normal and makesus stay within the bounds of common sense to aid inself-preservation. In the end, every person that lives is merely atemporary citizen in the scheme of things anyway. Tell meotherwise, that in a perverse way we are all born to die and thereis nothing surer than that.